1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for marking, tracking, and managing hospital instruments. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for marking instruments with information indicative of the manufacturer, part number, serial number and manufacturing data of each instrument, inputting such information into a database, along with information regarding the desired maintenance schedule, and usage of each instrument, and tracking the usage and/or maintenance of each instrument by using the information in the database. The method also includes asset management, instrumentation identification and counting, and assembly of surgical trays and kits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is extremely important to monitor and/or track the use of hospital instruments, particularly instruments used to perform surgery. Large hospitals often comprise many different departments. This multidepartment organizational structure frequently results in nonuniform, rather than centralized, attempts to track the maintenance and/or usage of hospital instruments.
Hospital instruments are expensive and often have short or limited useful lifetimes. The term "hospital instrument", as used herein refers to any instrument or device used for patient care, diagnosis, therapy, or surgery in a hospital or in the office of a physician or surgeon. By way of example, hospital instruments may include, but are not limited to, defibrillators, ultrasonography transducers, and surgical instruments such as forceps. The term "hospital procedure", as used herein, refers to any procedure performed in a hospital or in the office of a physician or surgeon, using a hospital instrument. By way of example, hospital procedures include, but are not limited to, surgery, defibrillation, ultrasound imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging. The costs associated with maintaining and/or replacing hospital instruments are relatively high.
The lack of a centralized system for marking, tracking, and managing hospital instruments can result in unnecessary replacement costs, higher than necessary inventory levels, the failure to perform needed maintenance in a timely manner, or increased exposure to liability resulting from insufficient documentation of maintenance practices. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a centralized system and/or method for marking, tracking, and managing hospital instruments.
Other prior art methods for marking surgical instruments require two separate marking techniques, one technique for surgical instruments having a mirror finish and a second technique for surgical instruments having a nonmirror finish. Such a method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,850 to Honda. Such dual marking methods are expensive in that they require complex hardware and software capable of distinguishing between the two different types of marking techniques used for different finishes on surgical instruments.
The present invention provides a great advantage over such prior art methods in that a single marking technique is used, regardless of the finish on a hospital instrument. This single marking technique provides economy, not only in the hardware used to mark the hospital instruments, but also in the hardware and software used to read the marks.